The announcement said Sirichai’s resignation was effective since Wednesday, the day when he filed notice.

Speculation about Sirichai’s resignation emerged on Wednesday soon after Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha used his absolute powers under Article 44 of the interim constitution to transfer Varanon Peetiwan, a key Sirichai subordinate, from his post as director-general of the Department of Employment to become deputy permanent secretary of the Labour Ministry.

Three other Labour Ministry officials resigned along with Sirichai.

Prayut has not explained why Varanon’s replacement could not be approved through a Cabinet resolution, as is typical in the reshuffle of high-ranking officials.

A ministry source said the reshuffle was made due to the Employment Department’s failure under Varanon to register significant numbers of migrant workers in line with the new migrant worker law, which will begin to be fully enforced at the end of the year.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said that the 13 reform committees and six strategy sub-committees convened to compare progress and, for now, had agreed to draft proposals in the same format.

The committees also agreed to hold open meetings upcountry to assess public opinion, Wissanu said, adding that they are indeed making progress.

The reform committees are due to submit proposals by December, to be scrutinised by the strategy committees to ensure they’re in line with established national strategy.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had earlier urged that the panels’ progress be reported to the public.

The committee was soliciting their views on legals reforms as required by the new reform law, said committee chair Borwornsak Uwanno.

The agencies proposed a national legislative plan to ensure the systematic enactment of laws and to set timetables.

Borwornsak said the committee had established a principle to reform the legal sector, which was meant to review existing legislation and enact only necessary revisions.

The committee also proposed a ministerial panel to review existing laws.

In addition, the committee was working on a response to Article 77, which addresses public participation in the enactment of new laws.

Borwornsak said the committee would meet 20 other concerned agencies on Thursday to hear their views. It will then hold public hearings across the country starting on November 15.

POLITICAL PARTIES are being left to their own devices as the clock ticks ahead of deadlines for them to rearrange their internal workings as required by a new organic law, as the junta has kept its strict ban on political activities in place.

The Election Commission (EC) made it clear yesterday the agency did not have the authority to give extra time to political parties to make arrangements to fit the new regulations, despite the junta’s refusal to lift the ban.

Political parties could only petition the EC registrar for additional time if they could not meet the schedule, said commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn.

Somchai added that political parties must file petitions individually for extra time, while it would be up to authorities to determine whether to allow the petitions and by how much the period would be extended.

If the registrar turned down the request, parties could then submit the matter the entire EC to decide, Somchai said.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) had already discussed lifting the political ban and laid out a schedule, but he refused to disclose details and said the NCPO had the sole authority to do so.

Although politicians’ activities were technically frozen since the ban on political gatherings, Wissanu said there was not a problem and the “road map to democracy” would remain unaffected.

“We are well aware what political parties have to do and how. Although now they are not allowed [to gather], there will not be a problem,” he said. “The law stipulates that the Election Commission can consider case by case and decide to extend the timeframe.”

After the coup-installed government took power in 2014, it issued an order banning political gatherings of five or more people. The order prohibits political activists from campaigning against the junta while also disallowing political parties from holding meetings to make decisions related to their parties’ structure.

After more than three years in a stifled environment, concerns over the political ban have heightened because the organic law governing political parties has already been enacted.

Political parties need to hold internal meetings in order to restructure in line with the new law, which entails a number of new rules and regulations. For example, parties have to report changes to their registration records to the EC registrar within 90 days. Also, they have to collect annual membership fees from party members within 180 days.

As the law was enacted early last month, those deadlines are already approaching, but the junta kept the ban on political activities in place before and during the Royal Cremation Ceremony.

As the official mourning period ended on Monday, politicians have urged the NCPO to loosen its grip so parties can get to work, but so far authorities have rejected the proposal, citing the need to keep the peace and ensure order.

If political parties fail to meet the deadlines set by the new law, they potentially could lose the opportunity to contest the next election.

However, EC commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn said that political parties could petition the registrar for additional time in case they could not meet the schedule in the road map.

The clock is ticking now since the organic law governing political parties came into effect early last month. Political parties are required by the new regulations, for instance, to update their registration records in 90 days and collect annual membership fees within 180 days. Despite that, the junta has maintained the ban on political activities.

If parties fail to meet the deadlines prescribed by law, they could lose the opportunity to contest the next election.

Somchai said that political parties must seek a petition for extra time with the registrar, one by one. It would then be up to the authority whether or not the petition would be allowed and for how long, he said.

In case the registrar turned down the request, the parties could submit the matter instead to the EC convention to decide, Somchai explained.

The commissioner stressed that all this must be initiated by the parties. The EC had no power whatsoever to order extra time for political parties to make arrangement in preparation for the election, he added.

Asked about the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)’s current stance to maintain the political ban, the commissioner said that he would not intrude on that.

“It was not the EC’s job to be assess the time,” Somchai said. “However, I believe that there will be some solution and it must not be illegal.”

The commissioner went on to say that the EC had prepared a total of eight regulations as well as announcements concerning political parties ready for when the NCPO allowed political parties to be active again.

The EC was ready to help facilitate the parties once the ban was lifted, he said.

Somchai was also asked about the fact that nobody had yet applied to fill the vacancies at the EC.

Somchai, who is now one of seven acting commissioners, said that he believed eventually some people would apply, but everyone would have to wait and see how competent they would be.

The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) had had discussions about a month ago about lifting the ban. and had set out a schedule as to what to do and when, Wissanu said. But he refused to give out any details, stressing that it was only for the NCPO to say.

The remark came after the NCPO refused to relax the political ban despite the fact that the relevant organic laws took effect more than three weeks ago.

Wissanu insisted that the major road map would remain unaffected.

“We are well aware of what political parties have to do and how. Although now they are not allowed (to conduct activities), there will not be a problem,” he said. “The law has stipulated that the Election Commission (EC) could consider case by case and decide to extend the timeframe.”

The political parties will have time to campaign before the election, Wissanu said.

In a related development, the vacancies on the EC still remain. Wissanu said if that remains the case, the current acting commissioner could start organising the election

THE UNITED Kingdom has informed Thailand that if former premier Yingluck Shinawatra went to stay in the country, it would not involve political asylum, Thai Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai said yesterday.

“The UK said that if Yingluck came to stay in the UK, there would not be an issue of political asylum. If she wanted to stay, she would need to follow the normal immigration process,” Don said, responding to a reporter’s question whether Yingluck had already been granted political asylum.

A source in Pheu Thai Party, meanwhile, speculated that Yingluck was seeking asylum in unspecified countries, but did not say that she was only dealing with the UK. The source said that the former prime minister wanted to finalise the matter, which is one reason why she had not been seen in public recently.

The Nation contacted the British Embassy to inquire about the matter, and was told that it could not provide specific information about individuals involved in the immigration process.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha said at his weekly press briefing at Government House that Thai authorities still had not received a confirmation from any foreign country about Yingluck’s whereabouts.

Wherever Yingluck is located, the host country should confirm her whereabouts to Thailand so official procedures could be carried out, Prayut said, apparently referring to extradition efforts by authorities.

He added that authorities had been following the case closely and undertaking every possible legal procedure, including the revocation of Yingluck’s four passports.

Deputy Police Commissioner Pol General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said Thai police had not been updated by Interpol, apart from the fact that Yingluck had fled to the United Arab Emirates and then to the UK, which was already known.

Attorney-General Khemchai Chutiwong added that his office could not make any progress on the extradition since it did not know Yingluck’s whereabouts.

Don said the process would start with the police and the Attorney-General’s Office, while the Foreign Ministry would only communicate with other countries on the issue.

On Monday, police revealed that all four Thai passports held by Yingluck had been revoked by the Foreign Ministry last week following a police request.

The cancellation was Thai authorities’ latest action relating to the fugitive former premier, who was sentenced for five years in absentia for failing to prevent corruption in her government’s rice-pledging scheme.

Yingluck fled before the court verdict was due to be read on August 25. After the court then ruled on her case on September 27, she had 30 days to make an appeal in person, but did not do so, which means the case is technically concluded.

In accordance with new legal procedures for cases against politicians, the statute of limitation does not apply to the case, which apparently means her fugitive status is permanent.

A source from Pheu Thai Party said it was believed that Yingluck had sought asylum in several countries. In a worst-case scenario for her, she could stay in Dubai with her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, the source said.

Uncertainty over asylum was one reason why Yingluck had kept a low profile since her disappearance from Thailand, the source said. She also had waited for the mourning period for His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej to pass.

However, the source said Yingluck would eventually have to publicly address the verdict. “This is politically necessary. It should be better than letting herself be branded with the guilt forever,” the source said. “Currently, there is no factor that would shift this possibility.”

Kitinan Thatpramook, director-general in charge of the cases, said there would be meetings early this month to proceed with plans to appeal the cases after the Supreme Court acquitted some private-sector and rice-miller defendants in the case of the government deals.

Acquittals would affect related civil liability lawsuits filed by the government in this case, Kitinan added.

Former commerce minister Boongsong Teriyapirom and former deputy commerce minister Phumi Saraphol were respectively sentenced to 42-year and 36-year jail terms for their roles in implementing fake contracts in connection with the rice-pledging scheme.

Former premier Yingluck Shinawatra was sentenced to a five-year jail term for negligence of official duties while overseeing the rice-pledging scheme, resulting in massive financial damages to the state. Yingluck fled the country before her verdict was read.

Regarding the fake government-to-government export contracts, the government wanted to seek compensation from private-sector executives and rice millers found to have conspired with other parties to cause the damages.

Boonsong and Phumi, who are both now in prison serving lengthy terms, have also sought a review of the court verdicts.

THE UNITED Kingdom has informed Thailand that if former premier Yingluck Shinawatra went to stay in the country, it would not involve political asylum, Thai Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai said yesterday.

“The UK said that if Yingluck came to stay in the UK, there would not be an issue of political asylum. If she wanted to stay, she would need to follow the normal immigration process,” Don said, responding to a reporter’s question whether Yingluck had already been granted political asylum.

A source in Pheu Thai Party, meanwhile, speculated that Yingluck was seeking asylum in unspecified countries, but did not say that she was only dealing with the UK. The source said that the former prime minister wanted to finalise the matter, which is one reason why she had not been seen in public recently.

The Nation contacted the British Embassy to inquire about the matter, and was told that it could not provide specific information about individuals involved in the immigration process.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha said at his weekly press briefing at Government House that Thai authorities still had not received a confirmation from any foreign country about Yingluck’s whereabouts.

Wherever Yingluck is located, the host country should confirm her whereabouts to Thailand so official procedures could be carried out, Prayut said, apparently referring to extradition efforts by authorities.

He added that authorities had been following the case closely and undertaking every possible legal procedure, including the revocation of Yingluck’s four passports.

Deputy Police Commissioner Pol General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said Thai police had not been updated by Interpol, apart from the fact that Yingluck had fled to the United Arab Emirates and then to the UK, which was already known.

Attorney-General Khemchai Chutiwong added that his office could not make any progress on the extradition since it did not know Yingluck’s whereabouts.

Don said the process would start with the police and the Attorney-General’s Office, while the Foreign Ministry would only communicate with other countries on the issue.

On Monday, police revealed that all four Thai passports held by Yingluck had been revoked by the Foreign Ministry last week following a police request.

The cancellation was Thai authorities’ latest action relating to the fugitive former premier, who was sentenced for five years in absentia for failing to prevent corruption in her government’s rice-pledging scheme.

Yingluck fled before the court verdict was due to be read on August 25. After the court then ruled on her case on September 27, she had 30 days to make an appeal in person, but did not do so, which means the case is technically concluded.

In accordance with new legal procedures for cases against politicians, the statute of limitation does not apply to the case, which apparently means her fugitive status is permanent.

A source from Pheu Thai Party said it was believed that Yingluck had sought asylum in several countries. In a worst-case scenario for her, she could stay in Dubai with her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, the source said.

Uncertainty over asylum was one reason why Yingluck had kept a low profile since her disappearance from Thailand, the source said. She also had waited for the mourning period for His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej to pass.

However, the source said Yingluck would eventually have to publicly address the verdict. “This is politically necessary. It should be better than letting herself be branded with the guilt forever,” the source said. “Currently, there is no factor that would shift this possibility.”

However, he said, political parties could at present carry out certain activities as allowed by the law, apparently referring to those that do not require party meetings, such as the registration of party members.

Prawit urged politicians to wait for the right time in terms of the authorities lifting the ban, and said this would not be beyond what had been set under the government’s roadmap.

The deputy PM claimed that there were still some “disturbances” in the form of opposing political sides attacking each other.